July 25, 2007

Harry Potter and the Slowest Reader Ever

Of my friends and coworkers who love Harry Potter as much I do (and to all you haters out there who think it's crappy children's literature, I invite you to read books five through seven, and see that there's some seriously freaky stuff involved and maybe eight year olds shouldn't be reading them, so there), I am extremely far behind. A few friends finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by Saturday morning, and most were done sometime last weekend. I am still moseying through, and as of now, am on page 493.

Like fox in the snow, I just can't bring myself to rush through it; as she said, "This is the last time I will be able to read Harry Potter for the first time."

That, and it's a big, freakin' book!

UPDATE: Done, as of July 26! I only slept for four hours last night, which wasn't brilliant, but I had to finish... Wish work had a nap room...

Comments

I can't believe how young some of these Harry Potter-readers are! When I was reading the book I kept thinking about the little kids I'd seen in the bookstore and how they were going to take it. When Goblet of Fire came out, I was seriously traumatized by Cedric's death. It was 3 in the morning and I sobbed and sobbed in confusion and loss and fear for the wizarding world. And I was twenty.

I think Rowling's said that the ideal age for each book is Harry's own age. I imagine, though, that it would be hard to hold kids back. If you let your 11 year old read HP1, they're going to want to read them all right away, rather than waiting a year to read each book in the series.

S, I pretty much had a mental breakdown during book six-- and as for the younger readers, I'm sure all of the parents who had to comfort their children having avada-kedavra nightmares were thrilled.

E, I should have done that instead of rushing into book seven... that said, I was still the last of my pals to finish this one. I was more afraid of having the end ruined for me than actually feeling a need to finish it.

This book was BY FAR my favorite. Especially the last 200 pages or so. Well, pretty much the last 100 pages. I am pretty sure I am going to marry Harry Potter, since those 19 years into the future haven't happened yet and this between him and Ginny could get messed up. Ya know, maybe.

It was my favorite too-- although I did somewhat miss the day-to-day at Hogwarts and more Snape-action. That said, the Man vs. Wild approach to Harry's survival was fun. Best of luck with Harry (your kids would be cute!)-- just leave Ron for me!